(30-08-2012 11:01 AM)houseofcantor Wrote: I don't use no "ignore" button, and when a thread sprouts trolls that I find disagreeable-know what? I do something else. No matter what you wanna call it, it is censorship, and once it starts, it tends to continue until there's a dictatorship.

If your Gwynnie was the leader of said dictatorship, you wouldn't complain, now would you?

(30-08-2012 11:07 AM)kim Wrote: I like the "Ignore" list... I used it quite a lot in conjunction with AbdelZ. I had him on it, and if I needed to see what was being referred to in something he posted, there is an option to momentarily see what this post says - it works like the "spoiler" button within the "ignore" option.
All I know is - I had AbdelZ on ignore, was able to follow a thread, but did it with a lot less stress. That was important for me at the time - the creepy asshole had previously PM'd me and really pissed me off. The ignore function made me feel like I wasn't missing anything but also made me feel like I was in control - not the asshole.

One is the Bishadi, AbdelZ, et al. poster who hurls invective.
Two is the wise-ass response to newcomers.

These are very different issues with (probably) very different approaches required.

Problem One should, I believe, be addressed by offended users making complaint to mods, mods warning the offender, offender mending his/her ways or suffering the ban hammer. Or we can just call on the derail posse to saddle up, ride out, and engage in food fight.

Problem Two should be approached, first, by Erx and I showing a little restraint with intro post replies, and maybe by warning newcomers that this forum is a funny, free-for-all organism with a serious backbone.

If there is an issue Three, I ain't seein' it.

Skepticism is not a position; it is an approach to claims.
Science is not a subject, but a method.

Ok there something here that really bothers me. It's people's inability to ignore stuff. I have NEVER used the ignore button. I don't need it. If I want to ignore someone....well....I ignore them. Maybe I'm insensitive, but I can't figure out why that is so hard. It really blows my mind.

Perhaps this is because people are constantly being protected from everything, including themselves. The part that pisses me off is the expectation that this forum "should" carry on that protection. The idea that this "should" be a community that doesn't allow this or that. Why the hell should it?? And if it does become a moderated forum, a safe haven, or a place where people aren't allowed to be nasty, stupid, ignorant, or assholes, I will no longer be a part of it.

The debate in this thread is good, but we need to know where people stand. The loudest aren't going to get their way, regardless of what side they are on. Instead, the majority will. If the majority want this to be a safe haven for atheists, then so be it. If the majority want it to stay the same, it will. But it would be nice to hear from more than ten or so people before making a decision. If you are shy about getting involved, that's fine. Send a PM to myself or Erx. All it has to be is a simple, "yes, I think the forum needs to change" or "no, keep the forum the same".

Let's first decide if the forum, as a whole, wants a change. THEN we can decide what that change is, and how we can implement it.

People here are constantly fooling around and fucking with eachother's minds, but you can tell that we're joking, most of the time.
There is a difference between stating your opinion and harrassing/verbally abusing someone (definitely someone who is new to the site).

Bullying newbies is just, like Dom said, going to scare them off and they're not going to return.
Hell, if people were harrassing me like that one asshole did to my "sister-in-law" (Hughsie's sister) I would have left almost immediately.
Definitely with our young age.

Some people just need to learn to watch what they said.
All of us have our own bags of bullshit that we carry around with us and we don't always wanted them to be shoved in our faces.

People have self-esteem issues- don't call someone stupid.
People have depression/suicidal problems- don't tell them to kill themselves.

The word "cunt" in general is just rude and simply degrading.

I say that if someone is accused of harrassing/verbally abusing/or trolling by many forum members, then they should be given a suspension for however long the mods feel necessary and if it continues, they should be banned.

BUT, those are just my thoughts.

"You don't disappoint me.... I think your much braver than you may believe."bemore